The Top Fails Of The Decade: Celebrating Those Who Brought The 'Ugly' To The 2000's

For every Dave Grohl or Thom Yorke charmed individuals who always seem to make all the right moves in their musical careers there's a musician who has mastered the art of f--ing up. More often than not, these artists once were living the dream and earning our gratitude in the form of CD purchases and ticket sales. Sadly, these troubling artists have seemingly extended a half-hearted middle finger to their fans because, well, apparently it's exhausting to maintain a respectable career. To these once-endearing musicians, we pose the question: What the hell happened to you over the past ten years?
Most reasonable music fans can forgive a horrible album or two. We give the musicians a slap on the wrist by not purchasing their latest album or posting the foulest commentary that we can possibly fathom on a MySpace or Facebook official band page. Bands like Metallica seemed to take such blows to heart, releasing vastly improved material that (almost) erased the memories of that enigma of an album, St. Anger. Of course, that's not to say that Metallica didn't make a mess in other areas during 2000s. Not a fan of downloading, that Mr. Ulrich.
Musical quality aside, never underestimate rock stars' ability to find other creative ways of wasting their 15 minutes of fame. The tried-and-true method of demon alcohol and/or drugs often rears its ugly head, and a few of this past decade's rockers have given the Woodstock generation a run for its money. Whether you call it a disease or not, substance abuse has been keeping some potential musical masterpieces from being created. Instead of albums, we receive ugly headline after ugly headline. We're talking to you, Pete Doherty.
Regardless of whether it was a solo artist, band, or even a big-wig company at fault, the usual suspects dominated the music news, often taking St. Bono and other seemingly immaculate artists out of the limelight (not that we don't love a break from seeing the U2 frontman wearing shades at night and/or indoors). These figures caused us shame. They made us rethink the machine that is the music industry. And more often than not, they provided better entertainment than any Will Ferrell movie.

The Long Wait For Chinese Democracy Is OverUm...Thank You, Axl?

Well, we now know what happens when it takes 15 years to record a follow-up album to The Spaghetti Incident. I believe the response meh comes to mind. If Axl Rose's whereabouts are any indication (i.e., Missing In Action), then it's possible he is rethinking the whole go-over-everything-with-a-fine-tooth-comb approach. Rose started out the decade as a recluse, slaving away at the then-mythic Chinese Democracy, and he has ended 2009 in much the same fashion.
According to a Rolling Stone article from back in May, Rose is so depressed over lackluster sales that he has locked himself in his house. It's a horrible move, particularly considering that although not a classic like Appetite For DestructionChinese Democracy wasn't that bad of an album. Some waste a decade by drinking themselves into oblivion. Axl's obsession with hiring and/or firing guitarists and refining the song Madagascar apparently were quite time-consuming as well. With the mysterious frontman yet to emerge from his lair, let's hope against hope that he'll skim the next writing/recording process down to at least 10 years. Baby steps.

Ringo Starr Will Deny You

He has some moxie, that Ringo. In a bold move made by the man who has often been considered the weakest link of The Beatles, Ringo Starr posted a video in 2008 declaring that he would no longer sign autographs. I'm warning you with peace and love. I have too much to do, so no more fan mail. The speech, in which he used the unconvincing words peace and love more times than deemed necessary, stated that anyone even remotely asking for Starr's John Hancock after Oct. 20, 2008, would be denied and their request tossed in the trash. Oh, so we should basically mimic what we have done to any post-Beatles albums you've recorded? We get your drift now.

Creed's Scott Stapp Makes Great Use Of His Free Time

Remember when Creed used to be labeled a Christian band? Yeah, funny stuff. It's difficult not to chuckle at such an idea when you read through vocalist Scott Stapp's laundry list of one no-no after another. While there are plenty of you out there who will claim Creed recording/performing any kind of music is the most notable fail of the decade, it's Stapp's own bravado that makes us shudder. This is one man who seems to have been a victim of the faulty reasoning gene.
Whether sucker punching 311's drummer (only to accidentally hit a woman) on Thanksgiving back in 2005 or getting arrested for assault (a charge later dropped by his wife) in 2007, he's the antithesis of clean living. Stapp's screw-ups were made even more hilarious given that fact they happened not-so-long after he stated that the film The Passion of the Christ inspired him to readdress his feelings about love and what true love is. Apparently Stapp and Mel Gibson attended a similar Bible study session.

Gibson's Rosewood Scandal

As one of the top-selling and most noteworthy guitar makers out there, Gibson hasn't had too much to worry about since being founded way back in 1902. Fast forward to November of 2009, and the stalwart company was suddenly thrust into an uncomfortable situation when its plant was raided under suspicion of purchasing illegal wood. Those cute little lemurs in Madagascar have seen their rainforest habitat quickly eradicated due to the sales of exotic woods such as rosewood, which is why the U.S. Lacey Act (banning such activity) was enacted. The verdict is out whether Gibson knowingly purchased such controversial wood or not, but the raid certainly put a smudge on Gibson's pristine image just in time for our Top Fails list.

Sony BMG's Rootkit Debacle

Record companies began scrambling to create preventive measures when downloading became the craze of choice over the past decade, but so far there haven't been any homerun solutions. One attempt, although possibly executed with good intentions, ended up wreaking more havoc than any insignificant file sharer could have even possibly imagined. Sony BMG, in an effort to support the Digital Rights Management (DMG) initiative, installed rootkits on CDs that inadvertently created accessible backdoors for hackers and other nuisances. Compared to the Tylenol Scare of the 1980's, these rootkits not only led to Sony BMG recalling millions of CDs (thus losing revenue), it also likely caused damage to at least 500,000 infected computers in 165 countries.

Scott Weiland: The Man Who Loves Wasting Golden Opportunities

The man had it all, many times over. Riding high on the success of Stone Temple Pilots, easily one of the top grunge acts of the 1990s, Scott Weiland was one of the foremost frontmen in rock. His problems started long before this decade, already having been arrested for cocaine possession in the mid-90's. The singer seemingly had cleaned up his act just in time to start fresh with a new decade, but then there was that pesky domestic abuse arrest in 2001. That incident seemed to trigger a variety of other incidents that would pepper the decade, most significantly a dispute that dissolved STP.
Enter supergroup Velvet Revolver. After a brief honeymoon period with Slash and the boys, Weiland once again fell into his old habits: a DUI, rehab, and conflict galore with his bandmates. Although it was entertaining to see Matt Sorum use the Velvet Revolver website as a passive aggressive sounding board toward Weiland, it also signaled the end of yet another era. It's highly possible that the vocalist has finally cleaned up his act with an STP reunion, the release of the solo album Happy In Galoshes (although his decision-making skills are up for debate given the odd title) and another STP album in the works, but we have a feeling that he's still got plenty to offer the new season of Behind The Music.

The RIAA (And Metallica) Versus File Sharing

While Metallica finished up the decade on a high note, it's hard to completely wipe away the image of millionaire/drummer Lars Ulrich decrying Napster and/or any fan who downloaded his band's music for free. While the importance of a payment system for bands (at least the ones who want to make an actual living) is obviously essential, the 2000's often felt like a witch hunt rather than a crusade for justice. Never did this become more obvious than when the Recording Industry Association of America began suing everyone from mothers to 12-year-olds for file sharing. To be fair, BPI exec Geoff Taylor admitted back in June that things were handled badly with the whole Napster debacle. Guess who is sticking to his guns? That lovable curmudgeon, Lars Ulrich.

Courtney Love, We Can No Longer Keep Track Of Your Fails

After enjoying platinum success with Hole's Live Through This and Celebrity Skin in the 1990s, Courtney Love ventured out on her own and created more tabloid headlines than actual music. The 2000's have been marred by Love's erratic behavior, which would possibly have been tolerable had she produced a solid album. No, America's Sweetheart ain't cuttin' it. From air rage to drug abuse to breaking into her manager/boyfriend's apartment, Love is the personification of an epic fail. While we commend her brief efforts to maintain the good name of Kurt Cobain by refusing to allow her late husband's animated character play anything but Nirvana songs in Guitar Hero 5, her motives never seem truly pure. After all, Love is playing the Hollywood game as an executive producer for an upcoming biopic on Cobain.

Amy Lee And Her One-Woman Show

In 2007, Amy Lee made herself the ultimate villainess when she accomplished every dictatorial vocalist's dream: Declaring herself to be the only original member left in Evanescence. Although there was a murky period after the 2003 departure of Ben Moody, the former guitarist (and boyfriend) who co-wrote such hits as My Immortal, one could have passed it off as residual feelings from love gone wrong. We couldn't support that theory when 2007 rolled around. Guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray were suddenly given the boot, and more sources than not pointed the blame at Amy Lee's tightening grip on the band. One particular quote from Gray certainly gave us pause: The way they spin it, I'm not even allowed to say I quit the group, I guessI need to have a lawyer read over all that mess to tell me what, when, and how I can tell you all THE REAL FANS what really went down, if I ever can, haha. A word of warning to guitarist Terry Balsamo and the other current band members: It might be wise to have a little somethin' somethin' on the side.

Pete Doherty, Rehab Connoisseur

What can you say about Pete Doherty? This is a man who kept business booming for rehab clinics over the past 10 years. As lead vocalist for The Libertines, Doherty experienced short-lived success that was squandered by growing drug problems. Bandmates would fire and rehire Doherty a few times before finally calling it quits. So what's a free agent to do? In Doherty's case, start raising Cain. With his follow-up gig in the group Babyshambles, the singer has taken the rock star lifestyle to a level of excess that almost makes Ozzy look like a piker.
The last half of the decade has been a game of Let's Guess How Long It Takes For Pete To Go On A Bender After Leaving Rehab. It looks like Doherty has no intention of becoming a fine, young citizen if his latest shenanigans are any indication. Recent update: Not long after he offended thousands at a Munich music festival by inserting Nazi connotations into the German national anthem, he was arrested for allegedly throwing a bottle at a parked car window. Isn't that a nice little bookend for the decade?

The Smashing Pumpkins' Reunion That Wasn't

Most of us can appreciate the fact that a musician might want to reclaim his or her title at the top of the Billboard charts, but Billy Corgan bordered on being that annoying ex-boyfriend who can't seem to get a grasp on reality. During his Smashing Pumpkins reign of the 1990s, the singer/guitarist churned out platinum album after platinum album. The momentum waned slightly with the release of 2000's Machine/The Machines of God, the final album featuring the original lineup, and a breakup would soon follow.
This is where things get uncomfortable. Corgan's next endeavor Zwan only lasted a few years and disintegrated after a war of words among bandmates. It's around this time where Corgan opted to take out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune expressing his desire to reform Smashing Pumpkins. While in theory it was somewhat inspirational, the urgent plea never lured bassist D'Arcy Wretzky or guitarist James Iha back into the group. Jimmy Chamberlin (the last remaining original member other than Corgan) parted ways earlier this year, but it does seem (shock of all shocks) that Billy will march forward with the Pumpkins moniker.

Ronnie Wood: Infamous Lothario

We all have probably assumed that rock stars particularly ones in a megagroup like The Rolling Stones have participated in their share of indiscretions. One would hope that, at the ripe old age of 62, guitarist Ronnie Wood might be ready to settle down (or at least stick to gals no more than 30 years younger than him). This task proved to be far too difficult for Wood, who allegedly carried on an affair back in 2008 with barely-legal Ekaterina Ivanova. If he offered any excuses, Wood's wife wasn't hearing any of it. A divorce was set in motion and granted this year, but the Stones legend decided he had another epic fail in reserve for this decade. In December 2009, Wood was arrested on suspicion of assault in connection with a domestic incident. That man is certainly making Jagger and Richards look like a few saints these days.

Corgan's Next Logical Step: Midlife Crisis

While the whole Chicago Tribune debacle was certainly an embarrassing career move on Corgan's part, the desire to reform Smashing Pumpkins could be described as noble or at the very least nostalgic. It appears that Corgan may very well believe that he is still a fresh-faced (and horny) 25-year-old. Just this month ABC News published an article dedicated to Corgan's bizarre dating history (The Many Loves of Billy Corgan), which just doesn't seem to click with the Corgan of old a man once enamored with the highly respectable photographer/art director Yelena Yemchuck. We threw up a little in our mouth when Corgan showed up at Bravo's A-List Awards with Tila Tequila back in April, and now the singer has opted for John Mayer's sloppy seconds with Jessica Simpson. While these are obviously attractive women, we just expected Corgan to not be such a creepy old man at this point. Corgan, just go get yourself a Corvette and silly hairpiece, and be done with it. Please.

Queen Carries On Without Freddie.Oh, My... Abort Mission!

Ever since Bohemian Rhapsody was brilliantly used in Wayne's World, the already impeccable Queen was injected with new life and a fresh fan base. Had the masterful frontman Freddie Mercury not experienced such an early passing, there wouldn't have been any question that Queen should continue onward and upward. On the other hand, you can't fault a band for wanting to make a living, even without the figurehead that was most associated with the band.
So the logical next step was to find a competent singer, and who better to take on such an intimidating role than Free/Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers? It's true that Rodgers handily covered most of Queen's greatest hits, but the collaboration always seemed a little sacrilegious. What was once bearable became cringe-worthy when Queen and Rodgers decided they were ready to take their relationship to the next level by writing music together. Big mistake. There was little evidence of Rodgers' bluesy past or Queen's epic masterpieces. Instead, the album The Cosmos Rocks was so uninspired that Blender Magazine only gave it one out of five stars, while Metacritic named it the 24th worst-rated album in their archives. Don't worry, Queen. Kevin Federline and Limp Bizkit are way ahead of you on the Metacritic crap list.

Chris Cornell Discovers His Inner Pimp

Wow. I must have put in the wrong CD. That's the reaction that many of us had when first hitting play on Chris Cornell's third solo record Scream, which was released this past March. Gone was the stripped-down acoustic offerings that Cornell always seemed to perfect. And if you were hoping for the singer/guitarist to resurrect his Soundgarden days, a rude awakening awaited you as well. Scream, heavily embedded in a synth-driven, club sound and crafted by pop/dance icon Timbaland, even made Audioslave naysayers crave the sound of Cochise. Beating out Vanilla Ice and Paris Hilton as one of Entertainment Weekly's worst albums of the decade, Scream was compared to everything from a car collision (Allmusic) to a consumer product to be shelved next to the novelty t-shirts in Spencer's Gifts (Pop Matters). How the mighty have fallen.

Amy Lee And Her One-Woman Show
In 2007, Amy Lee made herself the ultimate villainess when she accomplished every dictatorial vocalists dream: Declaring herself to be the only original member left in Evanescence. Although there was a murky period after the 2003 departure of Ben Moody, the former guitarist (and boyfriend) who co-wrote such hits as My Immortal, one could have passed it off as residual feelings from love gone wrong. We couldnt support that theory when 2007 rolled around. Guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray were suddenly given the boot, and more sources than not pointed the blame at Amy Lees tightening grip on the band. One particular quote from Gray certainly gave us pause: The way they spin it, Im not even allowed to say I quite the group, I guessI need to have a lawyer read over all that mess to tell me what, when, and how I can tell you all THE REAL FANS what really went down, if I ever can, haha. A word of warning to guitarist Terry Balsamo and the other current band members: It might be wise to have a little somethin somethin on the side.

Adam124 wrote:
Amy Lee And Her One-Woman Show
In 2007, Amy Lee made herself the ultimate villainess when she accomplished every dictatorial vocalists dream: Declaring herself to be the only original member left in Evanescence. Although there was a murky period after the 2003 departure of Ben Moody, the former guitarist (and boyfriend) who co-wrote such hits as My Immortal, one could have passed it off as residual feelings from love gone wrong. We couldnt support that theory when 2007 rolled around. Guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray were suddenly given the boot, and more sources than not pointed the blame at Amy Lees tightening grip on the band. One particular quote from Gray certainly gave us pause: The way they spin it, Im not even allowed to say I quite the group, I guessI need to have a lawyer read over all that mess to tell me what, when, and how I can tell you all THE REAL FANS what really went down, if I ever can, haha. A word of warning to guitarist Terry Balsamo and the other current band members: It might be wise to have a little somethin somethin on the side.

As far as I read Doherty didn't "insert" Nazi lyrics into the national anthem, he just looked up the national anthem and didn't realise he got the one from the Nazi era or something like that. This seems to suggest he did it on purpose.

Cornell's album may not have been number one selling, but to put it as one of your biggest fails of the decade...really? You are going to shut down a man who has done nothing but put out fantastic music since he started. And now that, god forbid, he tries something new, he gets nothing but criticism and "fails". Have you even listened to the album?? There is no denying it is not what he used to do, but it's not bad. In fact it's one of my new favorite albums. Just because your into heavy, I going to kill you, death metal gives you no right to shut down someone who plays in another genre. I may not like what Taylor Swift puts out at all, but there's no denying she is a great artist. How else would she rise to heights in music. The same goes for Chris, just because he decided to try a new genre gives you know right to shut him down. Especially when his new album is great! But listen, I'm not saying it is really what he should have done, what I'm saying is that it's not as terrible as all you make it out to be. Arrogant people like you need to learn how to be more open to new ideas and styles, especially if you are deailing with music.

I was actually hoping this would be "Top Fails of the Decade" for UG users.
I would definitely qualify. When I was a noob (the site was still half Russian, I swear!), I was browsing the tabs and was like, "Who the **** is this zappp guy? He makes shitty tabs and submits too many of them." I was quickly informed of who zappp was.
Fuuuuu.

urunderclashero wrote:
Cornell's album may not have been number one selling, but to put it as one of your biggest fails of the decade...really? You are going to shut down a man who has done nothing but put out fantastic music since he started. And now that, god forbid, he tries something new, he gets nothing but criticism and "fails". Have you even listened to the album?? There is no denying it is not what he used to do, but it's not bad. In fact it's one of my new favorite albums. Just because your into heavy, I going to kill you, death metal gives you no right to shut down someone who plays in another genre. I may not like what Taylor Swift puts out at all, but there's no denying she is a great artist. How else would she rise to heights in music. The same goes for Chris, just because he decided to try a new genre gives you know right to shut him down. Especially when his new album is great! But listen, I'm not saying it is really what he should have done, what I'm saying is that it's not as terrible as all you make it out to be. Arrogant people like you need to learn how to be more open to new ideas and styles, especially if you are deailing with music.

woahh, man! chill! lol it's funny when people take things REALLLYYY seriously.
this article was great. i laughed for fifteen minutes when AX-hole was at the top of the list!!

urunderclashero wrote:
Cornell's album may not have been number one selling, but to put it as one of your biggest fails of the decade...really? You are going to shut down a man who has done nothing but put out fantastic music since he started. And now that, god forbid, he tries something new, he gets nothing but criticism and "fails". Have you even listened to the album?? There is no denying it is not what he used to do, but it's not bad. In fact it's one of my new favorite albums. Just because your into heavy, I going to kill you, death metal gives you no right to shut down someone who plays in another genre. I may not like what Taylor Swift puts out at all, but there's no denying she is a great artist. How else would she rise to heights in music. The same goes for Chris, just because he decided to try a new genre gives you know right to shut him down. Especially when his new album is great! But listen, I'm not saying it is really what he should have done, what I'm saying is that it's not as terrible as all you make it out to be. Arrogant people like you need to learn how to be more open to new ideas and styles, especially if you are deailing with music.

Shoegaze wrote:
As far as I read Doherty didn't "insert" Nazi lyrics into the national anthem, he just looked up the national anthem and didn't realise he got the one from the Nazi era or something like that. This seems to suggest he did it on purpose.

damn yeah that news report about it a few weeks ago was quite obiously flawed with wrong information
it wouldn't have been that difficult to change for the following article

redwing_suck wrote:
I was actually hoping this would be "Top Fails of the Decade" for UG users.
I would definitely qualify. When I was a noob (the site was still half Russian, I swear!), I was browsing the tabs and was like, "Who the **** is this zappp guy? He makes shitty tabs and submits too many of them." I was quickly informed of who zappp was.
Fuuuuu.

I still find it stupid how people dont know Metallicas argument for the napster case
it wasnt about stealing music,
it was about having leaked versions of their music distributed before Metallica had a chance to do it.

this list is terrible and does nothing but give you all an excuse to be a bunch of childish jealous little idiots being like "HAHA LOOK PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC EYE MAKE MISTAKES" have you lot never made a mistake? EXACTLY so when your perfect which none of you will ever be stop judging others thanks
and if you want to know why im most upset
its the smashing pumpkins and evanescence comments
those bands have done more for music than any of you will ever do

I agree with benji... This is a bogus list that fuels the fire for people to hop on the bandwagon and make fun of situations and events that occured to high profile people/bands. Many of these things are viewed as great things by true fans. Example Queen and Paul Rodgers... They are musicians and yes, unfortunately, Freddy Mercury died, but does that mean their desire to play the music that they made should end and they can't do that? Fuck you for telling them they can't. Most of these situations were great experiences and be viewed as nothing short of awesome, but a view high profile media douchebags say it's a fail so it's okay for those who don't really know whats going on to say that too. This article should belong in the list of top fails of the decade imo.

I like the Chinesse Democracy XD It's better than the songs from the Slash album (at list the ones he show to everybody). Mmm Slash's album will be great, with Ozzy, Andrew and so many talent *-* But... FERGIE? Weell... that was a fail to me!!

brcck wrote:
I think UG's Best Bands of the Decade list deserves a spot on here.

+infinity!!
seriously UG. I HATE YOU!!!
you guys are pathetic! i dont even know where to begin anymore!! everything u say is sad and lame. you computer nerds need to get a life. how can you dis on billy and then support crap like a7x and muse?!!!!! i mean muse above radiohead?! seriously?!
ef all yall mods

meh *shrugs*
in entertainment, any publicity is good publicity. kids who don't know any better are googling people and bands from the above as we speak. so in a sense, UG is making their fail into win. such is the power of the philosowin's stone that is teh interwebs.

blenk wrote:
Eurasian_C wrote:
bry0n wrote:
FUUUUU was a bit overused.
I personally pissed my pants laughing. Those were pretty well done.
that i because you are 12 and it was well overused, i cant think of anything thats missing from there.

Dallinisrad wrote:
brcck wrote:
I think UG's Best Bands of the Decade list deserves a spot on here.
+infinity!!
seriously UG. I HATE YOU!!!
you guys are pathetic! i dont even know where to begin anymore!! everything u say is sad and lame. you computer nerds need to get a life. how can you dis on billy and then support crap like a7x and muse?!!!!! i mean muse above radiohead?! seriously?!
ef all yall mods

You are ignorant. UG voters voted for the list. So if you didn't vote, shut your face about it.
Speaking of ignornat they make me rage as well. FUUUUU

thedarkblues06 wrote:
Dallinisrad wrote:
brcck wrote:
I think UG's Best Bands of the Decade list deserves a spot on here.
+infinity!!
seriously UG. I HATE YOU!!!
you guys are pathetic! i dont even know where to begin anymore!! everything u say is sad and lame. you computer nerds need to get a life. how can you dis on billy and then support crap like a7x and muse?!!!!! i mean muse above radiohead?! seriously?!
ef all yall mods
You are ignorant. UG voters voted for the list. So if you didn't vote, shut your face about it.
Speaking of ignornat they make me rage as well. FUUUUU

Actually I DON'T remember Creed being a Christian band. In fact, I seem to remember them denying that label in every interview they ever did. Good try, though.
Oh, and somebody care to inform this author that "fail" has been horribly out-of-date since about a year ago?

Okay so firstly
'Chinese Democracy wasn't that bad an album'
Hmm okay...
Disagree.
It really was that bad an album.
Secondly, why is Pete dressed up as a nazi? Did the artist read the article or know anything about the story? True Pete was being a complete idiot referencing nazis but he was lamely taking the piss out of the Germans. Not saying hes a nazi...

Yeah The chris cornell thing was a dissapointment, but maybe this will be his one bad album y'know? Most artists have one, after like 13 or whatever albums, it happens. I don't see how Billy Corgan's dating successes with attractive women are fails at all, and the Smashing Pumpkins' new stuff sounds ok to me. Lars Ulrich was right, Stealing music is bad, end of story. If you like your bands, what's the issue with paying for them to make more music? Last, the Kurt Cobain thing is rediculous. In all the other games you can control anyone for any song, so why would he be special? His music sucks and so does Courtney Love. The only good thing about Nirvana is we got Dave Grohl out of it.

Cris Cornell did not dissappoint, imo. I mean, Part Of Me was win. That song was all like aight, I banged that chick, and as far as my girlfriend knows, that b***h ain't a part of me. The man is sheer win, no doubt. So what if it wasn't Soundgarden-esque? He experimented, and probably scored a ton of vagoo out of it.

urunderclashero wrote:
Cornell's album may not have been number one selling, but to put it as one of your biggest fails of the decade...really? You are going to shut down a man who has done nothing but put out fantastic music since he started. And now that, god forbid, he tries something new, he gets nothing but criticism and "fails". Have you even listened to the album?? There is no denying it is not what he used to do, but it's not bad. In fact it's one of my new favorite albums. Just because your into heavy, I going to kill you, death metal gives you no right to shut down someone who plays in another genre. I may not like what Taylor Swift puts out at all, but there's no denying she is a great artist. How else would she rise to heights in music. The same goes for Chris, just because he decided to try a new genre gives you know right to shut him down. Especially when his new album is great! But listen, I'm not saying it is really what he should have done, what I'm saying is that it's not as terrible as all you make it out to be. Arrogant people like you need to learn how to be more open to new ideas and styles, especially if you are deailing with music.

Gone was the stripped-down acoustic offerings that Cornell always seemed to perfect.

seems to me they listened to both the previous albums and that album, and decided that it sucked, which they are allowed to do since they are human and entitled to his own oppinions. if its one of your favorite albums, then thats fine, but dont try telling someone their oppinion is wrong and that they are narrow-minded just because they dont think the same way as you... seems like the definition of narrow-mindedness to me.

Adam124 wrote:
Amy Lee And Her One-Woman Show
In 2007, Amy Lee made herself the ultimate villainess when she accomplished every dictatorial vocalists dream: Declaring herself to be the only original member left in Evanescence. Although there was a murky period after the 2003 departure of Ben Moody, the former guitarist (and boyfriend) who co-wrote such hits as My Immortal, one could have passed it off as residual feelings from love gone wrong. We couldnt support that theory when 2007 rolled around. Guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray were suddenly given the boot, and more sources than not pointed the blame at Amy Lees tightening grip on the band. One particular quote from Gray certainly gave us pause: The way they spin it, Im not even allowed to say I quite the group, I guessI need to have a lawyer read over all that mess to tell me what, when, and how I can tell you all THE REAL FANS what really went down, if I ever can, haha. A word of warning to guitarist Terry Balsamo and the other current band members: It might be wise to have a little somethin somethin on the side.

Who did actually think that a piece of s*** like Evanescence would get somewhere? I'm so glad that pathetic wannabe/poser band is over. Amy Lee get back to the kitchen!

Aerokizzombie wrote:
Uranutan wrote:
What's with using fail as a noun? Can we please just say failure instead?this.
and also,
Am I the only one that completely backs Lars on the illegal downloading and like Queen + Paul

I don't support him because I think the ultimate goal of a musician should be to have their music heard, not to get rich off it. And he was ****ing rich already.

I know all you guys might hate Lars for what he's done, or who may not care, but I respect him much more for sticking with his decision even when people wanted to crucify him. It may not have been the best decision, but where I grew up, sticking to your word is more important than whatever the word may be.

rofl, 4chan is bound to take over the whole of the internets. The rage comics would be immensely criticised if put on /b/.
I heard that the reason Lars wanted to sue napster was because they heard one of their early demos on a radio, one that they didn't want being played and heard by others. it was more that there was lack of control. In ways i would respect them for what they did, but then i realise they were still a bunch of sellouts regardless

I didn't think Cornell's release of Scream was a fail at all; to me it was just Chris taking a step on a different route and creating music that he wanted to despite what the population expected from him; the fact that Timbaland was working with him was a little unsettling though.
The fact that Cornell is now re-recording the album with more "rock n roll" to appease the masses* has really proved that he is making music purely for profit and is truly an amazingly epic fail.
*http://www.noisecreep.com/2009/11/03/chr... -rock-scream/

Ponchibego wrote:
I agree with benji... This is a bogus list that fuels the fire for people to hop on the bandwagon and make fun of situations and events that occured to high profile people/bands. Many of these things are viewed as great things by true fans. Example Queen and Paul Rodgers... They are musicians and yes, unfortunately, Freddy Mercury died, but does that mean their desire to play the music that they made should end and they can't do that? Fuck you for telling them they can't. Most of these situations were great experiences and be viewed as nothing short of awesome, but a view high profile media douchebags say it's a fail so it's okay for those who don't really know whats going on to say that too. This article should belong in the list of top fails of the decade imo.

Lul. Take it easy, kid. It's all opinion. No need to troll. IMO, YOU need to calm down, sit back down in your little computer chair and relaaax.

"Metallica seemed to take such blows to heart, releasing vastly improved material that (almost) erased the memories of that enigma of an album, St. Anger. Of course, thats not to say that Metallica didnt make a mess in other areas during 2000s. Not a fan of downloading, that Mr. Ulrich."
Lol, Metallica released press statements saying they were trying to recreate the Garage sound informing fans of the reasons why they should appreciate the album. If in order to enjoy the album you have to be told why, it couldn't be that good. . . . Damn the snare.

I think No Doubt and Gwen Stefani deserved to be up on here. I used to love them both then After She went solo and No Doubt released Rock Steady I threw up violently. Also Weezer's Make Believe and Raditude need mention too. A song with Lil Wayne? I cried and died a little inside.

if you stopped listening to Metallica because of the Napster thing then you're not a real fan, so you shouldn't listen to them anyway. who cares if Lars had an issue with "controlling Metallica's music". thats what he declared it to be. not about money, but about control. he just overreacted like a scared kid who sees a spider and swings around a baseball bat to kill it. you may kill the spider, but youre gonna break some stuff in the process
also, Kurt Cobain would find it hilarious to see his unsmiling avatar singing Bon Jovi. he would laugh his ass off, and then proceed to grab the GH mic and sing the song off key, laughing the whole time

also, Kurt Cobain would find it hilarious to see his unsmiling avatar singing Bon Jovi. he would laugh his ass off, and then proceed to grab the GH mic and sing the song off key, laughing the whole time

I think its fair to say the 2000's was a really crap time for music. UG had that vote on the best band of the decade or year I cant remember. I could not think of a single band that even stood out. As for myself Im a vai and satch fan, and fortunately their still making quality music. the best song of the decade for me: If i could fly.
It was great to see led zeppelin reunion though!!

133. wrote:
also, Kurt Cobain would find it hilarious to see his unsmiling avatar singing Bon Jovi. he would laugh his ass off, and then proceed to grab the GH mic and sing the song off key, laughing the whole time
He's a close friend of yours, is he? XD

He has a point, Kurt didn't seem like an uptight ass like Axl Rose or any other act out there that takes themselves way too seriously.